As Xiao Huaijin was leaving, he happened to run into Consort Shu, who had just gone to change her clothes.
"Greetings, Consort Shu." Xiao Huaijin glanced at Consort Shu with a slight lift of his eyelids before bowing in greeting.
When Consort Shu saw the tall and upright Xiao Huaijin, a cold glint flashed in her eyes, but her face remained warm and friendly. "Jin'er, you're leaving so soon after you arrived?"
The way he called out "Jin'er" was very affectionate, as if he were calling his own son.
Xiao Huaijin felt a chill run down his spine, and his eyelids twitched violently several times.
Fortunately, he had just hugged Shen Yunjiao tightly, and his collar and clothes still smelled of her.
The headache did not come as violently as expected.
Xiao Huaijin gave a faint smile. "Yes, Your Majesty, I still have important matters to attend to."
"Go ahead, don't delay." Consort Shu smiled indifferently; she was becoming increasingly reluctant to put on airs these days.
Anyway, Xiao Huaijin didn't get close to her when he grew up, but he always missed his biological mother, the short-lived empress.
"Consort Shu, why don't you come and admire the flowers too?" the Empress Dowager called out from the side.
Without a word, Consort Shu immediately agreed, smiled at Xiao Huaijin, and walked towards the Empress Dowager.
Xiao Huaijin silently clenched his fist behind his back, lowered his eyes, and strode away from the Imperial Garden.
—
Even without the male lead, the Empress Dowager still enjoyed the flowers and strolled through the garden as usual.
Shen Yunjiao pulled Xiao Anle aside and asked in a low voice with a gossipy look, "Anle, what do you think of Lord Wen?"
Xiao Anle's face immediately flushed red, and she replied shyly, "Yun Jiao, don't talk nonsense."
Shen Yunjiao smiled and said, "Okay, then I won't say anything more."
The princess was easily embarrassed and couldn't stand being teased like that.
But it seems that Xiao Anle is quite satisfied with Wen Zisong.
What are you two whispering about here?
Jiang Rong finally managed to get away from the Empress Dowager, and seeing the two of them whispering in a corner, she hurriedly ran over, wanting to eavesdrop as well.
Jiang Rong noticed that Xiao Anle's face was flushed and she looked shy, so she guessed what they were discussing.
"Xiao Anle! You have—uh!"
"Don't speak so loudly! There are so many people here."
Shen Yunjiao quickly covered Jiang Rong's big mouth.
At this moment, she suddenly realized that the original novel mentioned Xiao Anle marrying Wen Zisong, but it didn't mention Jiang Rong's future.
In the novel, Jiang Rong is an NPC who blindly worships her cousin. After being rejected by Pei Zhixuan, she never appears in the novel again.
But the Jiang Rong she knew was a real person, a lively and cheerful girl who could talk and laugh.
At this moment, Shen Yunjiao finally realized that she was truly living in the Dayong Dynasty, where everyone was flesh and blood, not emotionless two-dimensional characters.
"Why are you standing there so blankly, cousin-in-law?"
"It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered something."
Shen Yunjiao smiled faintly, took Jiang Rong's hand in her own, and said earnestly, "Rong'er, although I won't be living in the Pei residence anymore, if you have any worries, feel free to come to me."
Jiang Rong smiled after hearing this, "If you don't find me annoying, I'll go and bother Anle every day."
They chatted and laughed, completely unaware of Chu Xiyue's gloomy gaze.
The moment Shen Yunjiao turned around, she was certain that Shen Yunjiao was the one embracing her cousin.
But her cousin told her to keep quiet, and her older cousin also testified on her behalf.
He had no evidence to prove that Shen Yunjiao had seduced his cousin.
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
My cousin has always been a proper man, how could he be entangled with a married woman? Shen Yunjiao must have used some kind of seductive trick!
Chu Xiyue's eyes gradually turned sinister; she already had a plan in mind.
A woman who seduces her cousin deserves to be utterly disgraced.
A short while later, a palace maid came to announce that the banquet was ready.
The Lotus Banquet was attended only by female guests, and the Empress Dowager was very easygoing, so the atmosphere at the banquet was very pleasant.
Chu Xiyue pretended to accidentally knock over her wine glass, blushed, and said to the Empress Dowager, "Grandmother, I'll go back and change my clothes before I come back."
The Empress Dowager smiled and nodded: "Go then."
Seeing Chu Xiyue leave gracefully, she turned to the Noble Consort Shu beside her and said, "Xiyue is a good child. When I was living in seclusion in the Buddhist temple, she would come to serve me every few days."
Consort Shu understood the Empress Dowager's meaning perfectly. She immediately replied, "Xiyue is outstanding in appearance, filial and sensible. She is the perfect match for Jin'er."
Since Chu Xiyue's family didn't have much power, Consort Shu was happy to do her a favor.
However, the Empress Dowager may still believe that Xiao Huaijin is obedient to her.
"But this matter depends on Jin'er's own wishes."
"I understand. Consort Shu, please also put in a good word for me."
Consort Shu smiled and agreed.
Shen Yunjiao and Jiang Rong were drinking and chatting when they saw Chu Xiyue, who had changed her clothes, walk straight towards their table.
Shen Yunjiao's heart tightened, and she quickly lowered her eyes, pretending not to see her.
Chu Xiyue walked over generously, greeted Jiang Rong first, and then looked at Shen Yunjiao, "I've often heard people around me mention the Crown Princess, but today I've finally met her in person."
"But I always feel that the Crown Princess looks so familiar, as if I've seen her somewhere before."
Shen Yunjiao could only put down her wine cup, nod at her, and smile, "Miss Chu is too kind. I am just a housewife who rarely leaves my home. How could I possibly meet such a distinguished person as Miss Chu?"
Chu Xiyue chuckled lightly, "Then it's possible that I really did mistake you for someone else."
Shen Yunjiao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but just as she was about to sit down, she heard Chu Xiyue say in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, "Huh? I think I stepped on something."
Shen Yunjiao followed her gaze and looked down at her feet.
Lying on the floor was a dark green sachet.
Chu Xiyue picked up the sachet before her, but when she saw what was on it, she gasped in fright and threw the sachet away.
It just so happened that it landed at the feet of another girl, Liu Zhen, the daughter of Liu Taifu. Liu Zhen first gave them a strange look, and then picked up the sachet from the ground.
She opened it and found it empty. Just as she was about to ask, she saw the embroidered pattern on the sachet.
Liu Zhen's face instantly turned ugly. Coming from a scholarly family, she had never seen anything so obscene.
Liu Zhen stood up abruptly, pointing angrily at Chu Xiyue and Shen Yunjiao, and said:
"How dare you throw such filth at me?"
Chu Xiyue looked even more terrified. She denied it, saying, "How could an unmarried woman like me have such a thing? This sachet fell from the Crown Princess's body."
Shen Yunjiao was completely bewildered. What was this sachet? Had she ever seen one before?
She quickly picked up the sachet from the ground. It was embroidered with a man and a woman making love in a garden in an inhuman way.
Isn't this just an erotic painting?
"This is not mine."
"How could it not be yours?" Chu Xiyue questioned loudly, "Who else here would do such a thing besides you?"
"Alright, what are you all arguing about?" The Empress Dowager, who was sitting above, had just been chatting with Consort Shu when she saw the sudden commotion below and asked in a deep voice.
Chu Xiyue immediately snatched the sachet and ran to the center of the banquet. She knelt in front of the Empress Dowager and presented the sachet to her. "Your Majesty, look, I just found this disgusting and vulgar thing at the feet of the Crown Princess."
The palace maids serving nearby immediately presented the sachet to the Empress Dowager with both hands.
The Empress Dowager squinted at it for a while, then threw the sachet onto the table. "Shen, how dare you bring this into the palace?"
Jiang Rong tugged at Shen Yunjiao's sleeve, signaling her to quickly step forward and explain.
Shen Yunjiao took a deep breath, took a few steps forward, and knelt down in front of the Empress Dowager.
"Your Majesty, this item is not something I carry with me."
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